In it, her eyes were closed and her chin was tilted up, like a flower to the sun as Erik leaned down to kiss her, a look of hunger that was almost like pain on his handsome face.
It would be obvious to anyone who saw this photo that she was wildly in love with him. And that wasn’t exactly a surprise.
It was more shocking to her how clear it was in the picture that Erik desperately wanted to kiss her.
Either he’s an amazing actor, or…
When the phone rang in her hand, she was so startled that she almost dropped it. And then she saw her mom’s contact picture pop up on her screen.
Sucking in a worried breath, she slid her thumb along the screen to answer the call. It was her mom—Jenny obviously had to pick up. What she was going to say was anyone’s guess.
I can’t lie to my mother.
But how in the world am I supposed to tell her what’s going on?
7
ERIK
The next morning, Erik headed out to the inn, feeling happier than he ever had before on the day after Christmas. So happy that he found himself humming, his breath fogging in the cold interior of the car.
More than a few of his men and women had pulled him aside at some point yesterday to tell him he was a lucky man, and that Jenny and Gael were amazing. And he couldn’t have agreed more.
“Your gonna have a whole family,” Fallon had said, shaking his hand. “It’s so amazing, man.”
It would be even more amazing if it wasn’t a great big lie.
He tapped his thumbs impatiently on the steering wheel, turning things over in his mind.
Sure, it wasn’t truenow. But maybe there was something he could do to make it true.
Tom had sent him a photo he’d taken yesterday. Erik’s own feelings were clearly on display in the picture, but he’d been surprised at the soft look on Jenny’s face as she waited for him to kiss her.
Was it possible that there was something more there?
It certainly felt that way to Erik, but he worried that it was just wishful thinking making him see what he wanted to see.
Another pang of guilt shot through him at the idea that he was even having all these thoughts right now. He’d been engaged to Lydia not even two whole days ago. Shouldn’t he be mourning that actual relationship instead of obsessing over a pretend one?
But his heart had its own ideas, which was clear from the way his pulse pounded as the lake and the gorgeous Victorian inn came into view.
He parked, trying to clear his mind of all his guilt and longing, and focus on showing Gael a good time today.
It was hard not to be curious about the boy and what had transpired in his young life to bring him to Jenny. But of course that was their story, and they would tell Erik if they wanted him to know.
He crunched through the snow and stepped up to the porch.
Jenny and Gael burst out before he could even open the door.
“I spotted you from the window,” Gael said excitedly. “We just finished our breakfast.”
“Great,” Erik told him, clapping the boy on the shoulder. “I’m glad you had some chow. It’s a nice, cold day for exploring the farm, so you need your energy.”
“That’s what my mom said,” Gael told him, laughing. “And last night, she said we need ourbeauty sleep.”
He was clearly so tickled at the turn of phrase that it made Erik laugh too.
“Are you ready?” he asked Jenny.
